Do you want to improve your education or skills but find that a typical 4-year degree isn’t flexible enough for you? The best course of action is to enroll in a trade school. Vocational degrees are quicker to complete and give you practical experience that will help you find employment more quickly.
Let’s learn more about trade schools and discuss their pros and cons. Please carefully read the article as it will answer all of your concerns about trade schools and vocational degrees.
What Exactly Is Trade School?
A technical school, vocational school, or post-secondary institution are other names for trade schools. To educate students for a specific career, these schools place a strong emphasis on their technical and communicative abilities.
Trade schools provide a wide variety of training programs for jobs such as administrative assistant, veterinary assistant, dental assistant, sterile processing technician, and AC technician, among others. The duration of these programs varies, but they should last between eight months and two years.
When you enroll in a four-year program, you receive a bachelor’s degree, but when you attend a trade school, you receive a diploma or certificate that acknowledges the successful completion of your program.
Educational Outcomes:
As soon as you have your certificate in your chosen field, you can start getting hired. For instance, if you completed the medical assistant training course, you can serve as a medical assistant.
With a trade school diploma, you could work in some of the following positions:
- Nurse
- Plumber
- Electrician
- Office Clerk
- Dental hygienist
- Marine mechanic
- Graphic Designer
- Massage therapist
- Computer technician
- Construction manager
- Surgical Technologists
- Pharmacy technician
Trade schools, Community Colleges, And 4-Year Degree Colleges!
Before deciding what path to take, it is essential to understand the differences between various educational institutions. Please let us provide you with a detailed view of your various study options.
- Trade School:
A trade school studies for a shorter period of time, up to two years. Trade schools focus on giving students practical experience that will help them work in their future jobs. After completion of the course, you will be eligible to take the National Certification Exam and become certified by getting passed the credentialing examination.
Trade schools and vocational schools in Indiana & Chicago place a strong emphasis on giving students access to in-demand career opportunities so that they can begin working as soon as they complete their education there.
- Community School:
After two years of study, associate’s degrees are awarded by community colleges. Community colleges award diplomas or certifications after the completion of the degree. Community schools only admit students who have completed high school or are 18 years old.
- Four-Year Colleges:
A four-year degree is commonly referred to as a traditional degree. After four years of education, you are awarded a bachelor’s degree. After completing a bachelor’s degree, you can continue your education at a graduate school such as medical or dental school. Four-year colleges place a greater emphasis on academic studies rather than providing students with hands-on experience.
Perks of Trade Schools:
Let us look at some of the benefits of attending trade schools.
Flexible Timing – The benefit of attending a trade school is that the timing is more flexible, and the completion period is shorter than for traditional degrees. The shorter course duration results in more immediate job opportunities as well as lower course costs and loans.
Usually, the trade school study periods ranging from eight months to two years. A community college degree generally takes 2 years, a traditional degree generally takes at least 4 years, and some students require a 5th or 6th year to complete their degrees.
No Traditional Prerequisites – If you want to attend a trade school, you won’t have to worry about the application process because the requirements are less demanding.
Hands-on Training – Trade schools provide hands-on training that can help you get a job right away. Four-year degree programs emphasize academic learning over work experience. Due to a lack of practical experience, you may have to face difficulty while finding work. Because trade schools teach practical skills, you will be able to find a job in your field quickly after graduating.
Job Opportunities:
Trade schools typically teach in-demand occupations. As a result, there are numerous job opportunities for them that pay well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for dental hygienists in 2018 was $78,820. As per research, the average starting salary for 4-year, traditional degree graduates in the class of 2018 was $50,004. When the two wages are compared, there is a clear difference.
The Drawbacks of Attending a Trade School:
Attending a trade school has some advantages and disadvantages. Now, it’s time to take a look at some drawbacks that a trade school possesses;
You won’t Get the Traditional College Experience – There are no extracurricular activities and relatively little social interaction at trade schools. You can participate in sports, go on trips, and attend campus parties while enrolled in a 4-year college degree program.
In order to help you engage with others and become socially active, a large portion of the training you receive at a traditional college involves attending lectures by renowned academics off-campus.
The primary objective of a trade school is to offer practical training. Instead of involving you in extra activities, their aim is to make you an experienced person.
Job Flexibility – Trade schools only train you for a few kinds of occupations, whereas degree programs might open up additional career options and employment opportunities. For instance, if you earn a degree in sterile processing, you will only be able to find employment as a sterile processing technician. People who earn their MBBS from a medical college, for instance, have a variety of career opportunities available to them, including hospital administration, medical teaching and research, public health work, health, and medical journalism, medical writing, clinical forensics, medical examiner, and medico-legal consulting.
You have more options if you have a degree from a 4-year college. Graduates of four-year colleges can work in sales, education, and consulting, among other fields.
Education – You can continue your education at a variety of professional schools, such as law schools or medical schools, after earning a four-year degree from college. With advanced degrees, you can earn more money and have work security. [Professionally explain so that the student’s sentence doesn’t conclude in an odd way]
A Trade School or a Four-Year College? It’s Up-to-You!
It can be difficult to decide between a four-year college program and a trade school. Attending a trade school is the ideal choice for you if you have poor financial status or do not want to take out government loans. You’ll save a lot of money and receive sufficient training at trade schools that will assist you in performing better in the job market.
A lot of factors need to be taken into account before deciding about your future studies. Traditional schools, as was already said, provide greater opportunities for social connection and involve you in extracurricular activities. If you need a job right away and don’t have much time, a trade school is a better choice. Regular degrees are not a good option for some individuals because they dislike the schedules of traditional schools and want to gain hands-on experience.
The best way to apply to a trade school!
For trade schools, the application procedure is very simple and easy. While you can contact some of them and inquire about their policy, the majority of them offer the option of submitting an online application. The majority of the time, there are no deadlines and you can apply anytime you want. The authorities contact you for an interview once you’ve submitted your application. The interviews are mostly used to answer your questions and choose the field you should specialize in.
Now that you are aware of what Trade Schools are, it is time for you to decide which field you want to pursue. GOODLUCK and make the Wise decision.
